GRINGO

US, 2018, 111 minutes, Colour.
David Oyelowo, Charlize Theron, Joel Edgerton, Sharlto Copley, Thandie Newton, Amanda Seyfried, Harry Treadaway, Yul Vazquez, Bashir Shallahuddin.
Directed by Nash Edgerton.

Back in the day, Gringo was one of those white Americans who ventured into Mexico or other Latin American countries, the term of identification but not necessarily complementary. This film breaks through that barrier. The central Gringo in this film is African- American with a family coming from Nigeria. To the Mexicans, he is a Gringo.

Much of this film is set in Mexico and, as often with action films, shows us the evil and violence of the drug cartels. The cartels, their chiefs and their thugs, the murders, the attacks on the police, might seem an exaggeration until we read the headlines of contemporary Mexico and the statistics about deaths, the statistics of murders in connection with the drug cartels.

So, with this as a basis, Gringo begins in California but soon moves to Mexico. The context is pharmaceutical companies in the US and their double dealings, and one of the executives, being victimised, and sent down to Mexico – the film opening sequence having him phoning the bosses in America, screaming that he has a gun at his head, and that his attackers want $5 million. Actually, this is rather unexpectedly enjoyable when we finally overcome the “two years earlier� flashbacks and come to the scene itself. Not as expected.

The star of the film, David Oyelowo has tended to have serious roles, Martin Luther King in Selma, the King of Botswana in A United Kingdom. His agent may have sent him this screenplay and encouraged his desire to do some comedy as well is something in an action show. He is Harold, working for the pharmaceutical company, with a Joel Edgerton as his boss as well as Charlize Theron as his cold, calculating partner. Harold does not realise his own marriage (with Thandie Newton) is on the rocks. He suspects there is something wrong with the company, is able to download some files, he is sent to Mexico on business but to be scapegoated. Which leads to the opening sequence not being as expected!

So, there are cartel bosses, ruthless thugs, go-betweens from the company to the cartel, torture, killings, the whole Mexican cartel thing…

Meanwhile, a young Englishman is caught up in local drug deals and is sent to Mexico to recover some samples – from a prison, but originating from that pharmaceutical company. He works in a music shop and decides to invite the salesgirl to Mexico with him. They are played by Harry Treadaway and Amanda Seyfried. And their connection with Harold? They happened to be staying in the same hotel where he is hiding out… and then some!

The comic and the serious are blended together with Harold trying to escape, the cartel capo thinking that he is actually the boss of the company and therefore trying to abduct him, Harold using his wits and sometimes a gun and a car crash to elude capture. In the meantime, his boss’s brother, thuggish but involved in Christian charitable works, is hired to bring Harold back to the US. The brother, again serious and comic, as well as having a long discussion with Harold about Jesus and the relative betrayals by Judas and Peter, is played by Sharlto Copley.

More accidents, more tangles, the young woman helping Harold, her boyfriend in trouble going to the prison, and exposes and double-dealing in the office in the US – with Charlize Theron, both icy and seductive, almost auditioning to be Lady Macbeth, while Joel Edgerton does his usual reliable performance.

Entertaining in its roughhouse way, as well as its comic way, as long as you don’t take it too seriously while, in fact, the underlying issues in real life are very serious.

The film was directed by Nash Edgerton (Joel’s brother), a long-time expert in stunt work in films which serves him quite well here.

1. The title? In Mexico? The white Gringo? In this story, the black Gringo? All Americans as gringos?

2. The strong cast, the director and his stunt work?

3. The US, the city’s, homes and apartments, offices, the pharmaceutical company? The contrast with Mexico, the towns, streets, small hotels, headquarters of the cartels, the prison, the countryside? The musical score?

4. The opening, Harold and his phone call, Richard and Elaine, in the office, the reactions? Creating the situation?

5. Explanations, the company and the pharmaceuticals, development, connections in Mexico, the deals, shady aspects, Elaine and her arrogance? The potential for exposed? Harold being the scapegoat? His friendship with Richard, Richard reassuring him, betraying him? Harold and the office, the concern of the secretary, his getting the information on his desk? His wife, relationship at home, the affair and her leaving him?

6. David Oyelowo and his presence as Harold? Basically a good man, becoming the victim, the scapegoat yet learning to play the game? Going to Mexico, his job, going to the hotel, the contacts, the link with the cartel, his contact and his toe being severed? The decision to create the phone call situation, the two men at the hotel, the screams, the reprise of the opening sequence a seeing it from a different perspective?

7. The cartel, the thugs, the killings, the incident with the toe? The contact with Harold, mistaking him to be the boss? The abduction?

8. Harold and his adventures, Miles and Sunny in the same hotel? The hotel abduction, the two men from the hotel and their disguise? The cartel, in the car, the crash and Harold’s escape? Hitchhiking and getting back to the city?

9. Richard, his plans, the phone calls, betraying Harold? The finances? Elaine and the two businessmen and the partnership? Richard, rather more ordinary, Elaine and her being both arrogant and seductive?

10. Richard’s brother, in Afghanistan, aid relief, the Christian background, the mission? Richard commissioning him to go to Mexico? To find Harold and bring him back? The money deal? Finding Harold, rescuing him, going to the airport, Harold and his escape? The brother and the pursuit, the contract, the discussion about Jesus and Judas and Peter and betrayal? The brother hit by the car, surviving? The deals with Harold?

11. Miles, his work in the shop, friendship with Sunny, inviting her to Mexico, the tours, the butterfly sequence, his getting the message, going to the prison, the drug connection, his escape?

12. The cartels, the undercover DEA officer, the buildup to the confrontation, Harold the guns, participating the shootouts?

13. Sunny, meeting Harold, helping him, Harold escaping, his having the money?

14. Richard and his being imprisoned? Elaine and her becoming government witness, the TV interview? And Harold’s wife, looking at the television, putting on weight again?

15. Harold, his enterprise, at the resort – and the contact with Sunny?

16. The blend of comedy, serious themes, action – and the serious undertones contemporary of life in Mexico, murders, the police, the cartels?